Picture tube escutcheon mounting member

ABSTRACT

A MOLDED PLASTIC RESILIENT MOUNTING MEMBER FOR A TELEVISION PICTURE TUBE ESCUTCHEON IS INSTALLED IN FRAMING RELATIONSHIP IN THE OPENING OF A WOOD TELEVISION CABINET. THE MEMBER INCLUDES MEANS FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE CABINET AND MEANS FOR ATTACHING A PICTURE TUBE ESCUTCHEON THERETO.

Jm. 23, 1973 c. F. STUTE 3,712,958

PICTURE TUBE ESCUTCHEON MOUNTING MEMBER Filed March 18, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f l 414M} L Allim WHERE,

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ram 76M; j paw J/ A'V/URNEYS Jan. 23, 1973 c. F. STUTE 3,71

PICTURE TUBE ESCUTCHBON MOUNTING MEMBER Filed larch 18. 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet I IN VEN TOR.

BY %ZAI% Quay? W RN 5Y8 United States Patent US. Cl. 1787.8 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A molded plastic resilient mounting member for a television picture tube escutcheon is installed in framing relationship in the opening of a wood television cabinet. The member includes means for attachment to the cabinet and means for attaching a picture tube escutcheon thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Description of the prior art It is common in the television industry to use a separate escutcheon to mount the picture tube in a console receiver. The escutcheon is generally made of rigid material (usually a die-cast metal) and includes means for mounting the picture tube thereto. The escutcheon is also provided with means for attaching it to a television cabinet. Thus, when installed, the picture tube, escutcheon and cabinet become a rigid unit.

The cabinet is constructed of wood or wood composition material and includes an opening for receiving the escutcheon. The cabinet opening is framed with areas defining mounting holes for firmly securing the escutcheon. Since the escutcheon must fit properly in the cabinet, it is essential that the opening have proper dimensions, be square and have accurately maintained spacings between mounting holes. These requirements present the cabinet maker with substantial cost factors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a readily reproducible member for mounting a rigid picture tube escutcheon to a televisioncabinet.

Another object of this invention is to provide an escutcheon mounting member of molded construction to assure uniformity and dimensional accuracy.

Another object of the invention is to provide a resilient escutcheon mounting member of controllable dimensions to facilitate production line assembly and handling of console television receivers.

One advantage of providing a resilient escutcheon mounting member of readily controllable dimensions resides in the fact that the cabinet maker may dispense with close tolerances on the cabinet opening.

A special advantage of the invention resides in the resilient construction of the escutcheon member which serves to cushion the picture tube from fortuitious shocks to the cabinet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front view of a molded plastic escutcheon mounting member constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the member of FIG. 1 taken along the line 22;

FIG. 3 is a right elevational view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a typical television cabinet with the escutcheon mounting member of the invention installed;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the cabinet of FIG. 4 taken along the line 55 with the addition of a television receiver to show the general arrangement of the picture tube, escutcheon and escutcheon mounting member;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the upper front portion of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7, an enlarged sectional view of the lower front portion of FIG. 5, both views being for the purpose of more clearly showing the interrelationship between escutcheon, cabinet, picture tube and escutcheon mounting member.

Referring now to FIG. I, there is shown a generally rectangular escutcheon mounting member 10. Member 10 is preferably molded of a resilient plastic material capable of maintaining its dimensional configuration and includes a number of mounting holes 17 for attaching member 10 to the front opening of a television receiver cabinet. A plurality of protruding sections 15 are provided, each of which includes a mounting hole 16 for mating cooperation with appropriate mountnig means: in a television picture tube escutcheon. Member 10 includes a top portion 11, a bottom portion 12 a left-hand portion 13 and a righthand portion 14. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, lefthand portion 13 extends rearwardly of top portion 11 and bottom portion 12 and includes a lip 23. Similarly, right-hand portion 14 includes a lip 24. As will be explained later, these lips are designed to prevent light leakage between the sides of the television cabinet and the escutcheon mounting member.

In FIG. 4, there is shown a relatively conventional television cabinet 30 having a top 31, a bottom 32 and legs 35. Escutcheon mounting member 10 is shown positioned in the opening of cabinet 30 ready for insertion of a picture tube and escutcheon. An upper trim strip 33 and a lower trim piece 34, best shown in later figures, frame the top and bottom of the cabinet.

In FIG. 5, a television picture tube 40 and an escutcheon 43 are shown mounted in cabinet 30. Television picture tube 40 includes a metal band 41 around the front portion thereof having a number of mounting ears 42 attached thereto. This type construction is well-known in the television picture tube art and provides a form of integral implosion protection for the highly evacuated picture tube as well as a convenient means for mounting the tube. Escutcheon 43, to which picture tube 40 is mounted, fits between upper trim strip 33 and lower trim piece 34 and is fastened in the cabinet by escutcheon mounting member 10. The television receiver of FIG. 5 includes a back 44 closing the cabinet and an interiorly mounted chassis 45 for driving the picture tube.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, there are shown enlarged detailed sections of the upper and lower front portion of the television receiver of FIG. 5. Escutcheon 43 is fabricated of die-cast metal and includes a plurality of threaded mounting holes 49 for attaching the escutcheon to the escutcheon mounting member 10 and a plurality of other threaded mounting holes (not shown) for fastening the picture tube mounting lugs to the escutcheon.

In practice, escutcheon mounting member 10 is installed in cabinet 30 by, for example, screws 45 driven into upper trim strip 33 and lower trim piece 34. Side portions 13 and 14 of escutcheon mounting member 10 may be stapled (as at 51) to the cabinet opening side rails 50, which are only partially visible. Lip 23 is shown overlying the rear of side rail 50 to insure a good light seal as well as add structure integrity to the arrangement. When properly installed in the cabinet, the relatively flexible escutcheon mounting member becomes firm since it is attached at a number of points through mounting holes 16 and staples 51. Picture tube 40 is then affixed to escutcheon 43 through the medium of bolts 48 which engage picture tube mounting lugs 42 and are threaded into appropriate apertures (not shown) in the escutcheon. The assembly, that is, escutcheon 43 and picture tube 40, is then installed in the cabinet with mounting holes 49 in alignment with corresponding 3 mounting holes 16 in escutcheon mounting member 10. A plurality of screws 47 (and washers 46) are driven into mounting apertures 49 to firmly hold the assembly in the cabinet.

Escutcheon mounting member is preferably molded of thin high impact polystyrene plastic with ap propriate ribbing for support at heavily loaded points, such as around mounting holes 16 and 17.

This type construction results in a strong yet somewhat resilient interconnection between the rigid die-cast escutcheon and rigid television cabinet. In the case of color television picture tubes of the shadow mask variety, this construction is especially helpful since during normal handling of the television receiver, both in the factory and during shipping, the receiver is often subjected to relatively heavy shocks. With prior art constructions using a firm connection between the rigid escutcheon and rigid cabinet, the full brunt of many of these shocks is experienced by the picture tube and especially by the relatively heavy mask structure accurately supported therein. As a result, damage often occurs to the tube because of a shifted shadow mask.

The resilience of the escutcheon mounting member of the invention, however, tends to insulate the escutcheon and hence the picture tube from such shocks and results in lower incidence of tube failure resulting from cabinet handling.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination:

means for mounting a rectangular television tube in a television cabinet having a rectangular tube viewing opening comprising;

an upper frame member attached to said cabinet adjacent the upper edge of said viewing opening;

a lower frame member attached to said cabinet adjacent the lower edge of said viewing opening;

an escutcheon attached to said television tube about its viewing surface and of a size such that when said television tube is mounted in said cabinet said escutcheon fits within said upper and lower frame members;

an escutcheon mounting member of resilient plastic material having a strength capable of maintaining its dimensional configuration and of a generally rectangular shape and formed with an opening through which said television tube extends and having a planar portion which lies against the back vertical edges of said upper and lower frame members and against the back vertical edge of said escutcheonr a first plurality of openings formed along the top and bottom edges of said escutcheon mounting member and aligned with said upper and lower frame members, respectively;

a first plurality of threaded fastening means extending through said first plurality of openings and attaching the upper and lower portions of said escutcheon mounting member to said upper and lower frame members, respectively;

a second plurality of openings formed in said escutcheon mounting member about said television tube recgiving openin and aligned with said escutcheon; an

a second plurality of threaded fastening means extending through said second plurality of openings and attaching said escutcheon to said escutcheon mounting member said escutcheon mounting member having left and right side portions which extend transverse to the viewing surface of said television tube and rearwardly of said upper and lower portions of said escutcheon mounting member and staple means extending through said left and right side portions and into said television cabinet to hold them together.

2. In apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said left and right side portions include side flanges which lie in a plane parallel to the viewing surface of said television tube to prevent light leakage between said cabinet and said side portions.

3. In apparatus according to claim 1 including ribbing surrounding said first and second plurality of openings to strengthen said escutcheon mounting member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,165,779 7/1939 Blain 1787.8

3,084,217 4/1963 Fiore 178-782 FOREIGN PATENTS 715,061 9/1954 Great Britain 1787.82

792,478 3/ 1958 Great Britain 178---7.82

ROBERT L. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner J. A. ORSINO, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. l787.82, 7.9 

